2 things to watch out for in the Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz

Top seed and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will take on second seed and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday (July 16).

Right from the beginning of the tournament, Djokovic and Alcaraz have been tipped to face each other in the final and the whole tennis fraternity will be waiting for the clash with eagerness.

Djokovic, however, will be the favourite to win on his beloved Centre Court, where he has not lost a match since 2013. Alcaraz, meanwhile, will be motivated enough to win his first Wimbledon title, but will find the task difficult enough.

On that note, let us take a look at two things to watch out for in the final.

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#1. The battle between Alcaraz’s forehand and Djokovic’s backhand

Djokovic will probably try to make Alcaraz play more often with his backhand by engaging in crosscourt backhand exchanges and then pulling the trigger by going down the line. However, the Spaniard would be looking to counter that tactic by playing crosscourt forehands on a regular basis and then going down the line to test the 36-year-old Serb’s defence.

Alcaraz has a lot of power in his forehands, but Djokovic’s ability to defend wonderfully on his backhand side should mean that the 20-year-old Spaniard will find it difficult to hit past his opponent through that side.

It remains to be seen how successfully Alcaraz manages to do that. The Spaniard, to his credit, defends really well along the baseline himself and Djokovic will find it hard to hit through him too.

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#2. An absorbing contest at the net

Djokovic has outplayed every opponent so far in the tournament with his subtle touch at the net, but might finally meet his match in Alcaraz. The young Spaniard is also very good at the net and should test Djokovic with his sumptuous drop volleys.

Moreover, the Spaniard plays the drop shot better than Djokovic does and hence, the Serb should be prepared to rush the net often to retrieve the ball. However, Djokovic plays the crosscourt drop shot off his forehand really well from the forecourt and that might trouble Alcaraz considerably.

The Serb, meanwhile, has the better serve of the two and that will give an edge in Friday’s encounter. Moreover, his impeccable record in tie-breaks this year will mean that he will be favorite to win a closely-contested set. Hence, Alcaraz will have to exceed himself to stop the Serb from winning his eighth Wimbledon crown, which will also be his 24th Grand Slam title.